bankruptcy

/ˈbæŋkrʌptsi/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈbæŋkrʌptsi/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈbaŋk-(ˌ)rəp(t)-sē/ (ame, mw)

bankruptcy — noun

1. an officially recognised condition where a company or individual cannot pay back

1.名詞B2
釋義

an officially recognised condition where a company or individual cannot pay back what they owe, and a court takes charge of dividing whatever is left among the people they owe money to.

例句

After three bad harvests, Mr. Lin's small bakery was forced into bankruptcy.

force into bankruptcy

The airline filed for bankruptcy last March and stopped selling tickets the next day.

file for bankruptcy

同義詞
  • insolvency

    more technical; refers to the financial state of being unable to pay debts, with or without a court process

  • liquidation

    the actual process of selling a failing company's assets to pay creditors

  • ruin

    less formal and more emotional; covers wider personal and financial collapse

反義詞
  • solvency

    the state of being able to pay all debts when they are due

文法句型

file for bankruptcy

declare bankruptcy

用法筆記

Often appears with verbs like 'file for', 'declare', 'face', or 'be forced into'. Subject is typically a company, bank, or individual debtor; the term is the legal label for the condition, not the act of going broke in casual speech.

常見錯誤

❌The shop did bankruptcy last year.
✅The shop went into bankruptcy last year.
💡use 'go into', 'file for', or 'declare', not 'do bankruptcy'.
❌He bankruptcied his company.
✅He drove his company into bankruptcy.
💡bankruptcy is a noun, not a verb.

2. a complete absence of a valued quality such as honesty, fresh thinking, or moral

2.名詞C1
釋義

a complete absence of a valued quality such as honesty, fresh thinking, or moral standards, often used to criticise a person, group, or system.

例句

Senator Lopez condemned the leaked memo as showing the moral bankruptcy of the previous administration.

moral bankruptcy

The same tired slogans every week revealed the intellectual bankruptcy of the campaign team.

intellectual bankruptcy of [group]

同義詞
  • void

    stresses the empty space left by what is missing; often more poetic

  • dearth

    milder; suggests serious shortage rather than total absence

  • vacuum

    metaphorical absence, often of leadership or authority

反義詞

文法句型

bankruptcy of [abstract noun]

moral / intellectual bankruptcy

用法筆記

Almost always preceded by an abstract modifier (moral, intellectual, spiritual, creative) or followed by 'of + abstract noun'. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense never refers to money — 'moral bankruptcy' describes a lack of values, not finances.

常見錯誤

❌The team showed bankruptcy at the meeting.
✅The team showed a bankruptcy of ideas at the meeting.
💡this sense needs an abstract qualifier such as 'of ideas', 'moral', or 'creative'.